An Italian-American living la dolce vita in the Deep South

Sunday, November 15, 2015

Looking for Christmas when it hasn't gone anywhere

Evidently,
Christmas is on its way out.

Evidently,
everyone is celebrating it wrong. People are celebrating too early, or not at
all, or not long enough. People aren’t giving enough, or if they’re giving it’s
not for the right reasons. Society has replaced O Come All Ye Faithful with Jingle
Bells, Merry Christmas has now become Happy Holidays,
and – wait for it – this year’s holiday cup at Starbucks isn’t Christmassy
enough.

Do you hear
what I hear?

The
bah-humbugs and grumblings are reminiscent of Dr. Seuss’ Grinch who stands on a
mountaintop overlooking Whoville and laments, “All the noise, noise, NOISE!”

It’s a noise
accompanied with a lot of finger pointing on how Christmas is or isn’t being
celebrated.

During this
time of year we are especially mindful of Christ’s entrance into the world.
Rather than sending an army and forcing change, God sent an infant who was
innocent and non-threatening, welcoming and not judging. People came to see the
infant who simply was. Later, when
Christ began his ministry, again people came; they didn’t come to be accused,
but to be enlightened. The rod of
discipline of the Old Testament became the Good Shepherd’s staff of the New
Testament, a staff which is not used as a means of discipline, but as a way to
corral and guide.

And as
Disciples of Christ, we are also called to go out into the world to witness –
not to accuse or judge – but to be the shining star that casts light into
shadows.

So instead
of fretting on how Christmas is or isn’t being celebrated, consider the
following:

Jesus said he was the light of the
world, but he also said we are the light of the world. Be the Christmas light
that points people to Christ. Amazingly, a lot of the time you won’t even have
to say anything.

Instead of getting annoyed with those
“season’s greetings” or “happy holidays”, remember that the season refers to
that broad expanse of time in which there are multiple holidays (holy days)
which are being celebrated,including
Christmas, Hanukah, and even Kwanza. Don’t think of those “season’s greetings”
as an insult; rather, see it as an acknowledgement that some of our neighbors
(even our brothers and sisters) may be living and practicing a faith which is
different from our own.

Don’t be offended by that X in
Christmas. The “X” is actually indicating the Greek letter “Chi”, which is
short for the Greek word meaning “Christ”. So “Xmas” and “Christmas” are
equivalent in every way except their lettering. Most people who use Xmas don’t
have evil intentions; even so, for that person who maliciously tries to “take
Christ out of Christmas” the joke is on him because in the very act of
replacing Christ with an X, he’s actually putting Him in!

Embrace all that holiday music – it’s
refreshing to shop at the mall when, for this one time of year, Jingle Bell Rock is playing instead of Beyoncé or Miley Cyrus.

The best way to “keep Christ in
Christmas” is to model Christ-like behavior. A mean word or a judgmental look
does harm to the very faith we are trying to share. As Francis de Sales clearly
stated: “You can save more souls with a teaspoon of honey than a barrel of
vinegar.”

It may seem as if the secularization
of Christmas has been deprived of all meaning; however, Christmas is the one
time of year when many – even non-believers! – feel a stirring of the spirit.
If we are truly Disciples of Christ, we should celebrate any aspect of the
season that nudges them toward the holy. For some it might start with a trip to
the mall or watching Christmas movies on the Hallmark channel, but who knows? One day it might lead them to
the doors of a church.

Finally, remember this: commercialism
has absolutely nothing to do with our personal relationship with Christ.
Commercialism does not influence how we set up our homes to reflect Advent and
Christmas. Commercialism has absolutely nothing to do with how we come to
Church, worship, and celebrate our faith.

So, instead
of fretting how Christmas is or isn’t being celebrated, Be the Shining Star!
And maybe we’ll discover how we are all more alike than we are different; maybe
we'll begin to realize that all that noise – the complaints about Santa,
the Christmas wrappings, tags, and bows, and even those red Starbucks cups –
despite all those things, Christmas isn’t going anywhere. It’s here to stay.

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About Me

Benvenuti!

This is where I write about family, faith, and all things Italian; it’s a blend of frothy cappuccinos, Michelangelo, light sabers, Sunday dinners with i Nonni, and every Christmas ... 700 homemade tortellini.

There are also lots of stories about my Nonna.

The Summer of 2015 I organized a Girls' Trip to Italy. There were 23 of us. Enough said.